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Edge on Transitioning from Wrestling to Acting, the Art of Promos, More

WWE Hall Of Famer Edge recently did an interview with The Wrap to promote “Vikings.” “The Rated-R Superstar” talked about the harsh production conditions that come with filming “Vikings,” how WWE helped him transition into acting, and the art of professional wrestling promos. Here are the highlights:

Harsh production conditions when filming “Vikings”: “It’s a grind. It really is a physically demanding– and not just the battle scenes. You know, the wardrobe, the things you find yourself doing, they’re all pretty physically demanding. And you’re doing it in mud, and you’re doing it in in wet, in the Irish winters.

“You’re doing it in wool clothes that don’t like to get wet. It really, really does– you get a new respect for what the Vikings did with the limited resources they had. If you see us crawling around on that dirt with mud caked everywhere — that’s because that’s what it was.

“And no matter what, I can never shower it all off. So I would be walking around Dublin, going into Starbucks with like dirt and fake blood under my nails and around my eyelids, in my ears.”

How WWE helped him transition into acting: “Wrestling is a very demanding thing. But you’re also your own manager. You book your own rental cars, you book your own hotels. You carry your own bags. Your day begins as soon as you wake up and it ends when you get to bed. And it could be in a Motel 6 because there are no other hotels open and it’s 4 o’clock in the morning. That keeps you humble and it keeps you hungry.”

The art of professional wrestling promos: “I think the best promo guys make it sound like it’s not a promo. Instead of it sounding like — and obviously the era changed — it wasn’t the ’80s where, like, a Hulk Hogan promo or a Warrior promo or a Macho Man promo worked, because that’s what it was then.

“It has since become more of a nuanced thing. And it has to sound conversational. It still has to be big and Ultimate Warrior-esque at times because that’s its nature. But there’s a lot more levels and layers now. And I think if you made it to the top with your promos as part of the package, it’s because you could speak and you made it sound like it wasn’t this rehearsed thing.

“Because a lot of the times it probably isn’t. A lot of the times you probably have bullet points and you’re feeling it. And when you can start to feel an audience and react to what’s happening organically and be able to keep all of those plates in the air, I think it is good training to a set and having a script and going, ‘Right, OK, I can adapt on the fly if the director sees this scene happening a different way.

“I can adapt on the fly if the other actor takes it this direction’ because you are used to adapting on the fly live.”

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